Page 83 of Protected Promise
Dereck and I were talking and laughing after he readily agreed to my request of being my Beta. He even had some great suggestions for improvements throughout the territory, including discussing fixing up the old hotel along the highway to open as a recurring source of revenue.
I had explained to him that I’d been doing some small investments with the Westin Foundation since his arrival that had turned quite a profit. That money would be enough for the renovations he was proposing. Still, it was a lot to consider and I would not make a rash decision on the subject.
We were laughing and just catching up when Tobi burst through the door. Her face was pale with panic yet tinted in red at her cheeks from having ran.
“What’s wrong?” I looked past her expecting to see Kaitlyn. “Where’s my mate?”
“I’m sorry,” Tobi said as she started to cry.
I tried to remain calm, but I was freaking out. “Tobi, where is Kaitlyn?” I demanded.
“She sent me to get help. She ordered me to come find you. Landon, hurry. The she-wolves, they’re attacking her.”
“And you left her?”
Tobi sobbed. “I had to. Let’s go.”
I took off running with no idea where to go. Luckily for me, Dereck kept a much cooler head.
“Tobi, where are they?”
“The cabins.”
“Why on Earth were you guys out there?”
“I didn’t know they’d been set up so close to the Lodge. I thought it would be safe and fun to show her around.”
“What happened?” Connie yelled across the room as she and Shawn fell into step alongside us as I ran through the Lodge as fast as I could, out the front door, and into the woods in the direction of the cabins.
“Kaitlyn’s in trouble. She’s being challenged,” Tobi yelled over her shoulder.
I didn’t look back, but I could hear footsteps increasing behind me. My Pack was assembling. I said a quick prayer that Kaitlyn could hold off the she-wolves long enough for us to get there.
“They were ganging up on her, and I heard one scream. I don’t know who it was. Landon, I’m so sorry. I never should have left her. She commanded me, almost as strongly as you.”
“Well, she’s your Pack Mother, she has that power,” I admitted.
“She does?”
“Yes.” I didn’t want to explain it. I should have felt it the moment she channeled pack power, but I didn’t feel a thing. My father had explained it to me long ago. I didn’t think it would happen so soon, but perhaps her heightened anger or aggression magnified it, or Tobi was exaggerating, which was a possibility too.
I should have known she was in danger. I shouldn’t have let her out of my sight. I wanted to throw up at the mere thought of losing her. I hadn’t even told her I was falling in love with her.
I picked up the pace and ran as fast as my legs could carry me. I heard two wolves fighting just up ahead. We were almost there. If they were still fighting, then she had to be alive. If she were dead, they wouldn’t need to fight.
Just as we entered the clearing, I heard the snap and everything went silent—deadly silent.
I froze and tried not to throw up as hysteria threatened to bubble out of me. Two wolves lay there on the ground in a pool of blood. I could hear one was alive but they were so still I couldn’t tell for certain which, and then Kaitlyn’s wolf slowly rose to her full height.
She sat back on her haunches, and she howled in victory.
Tears stung my eyes as I fought the urge to close the distance between us.
My Pack at my back answered her call, howling in return. It made the hair on my neck stand up as I dropped to my knees and the others took my lead.
She limped over to me; her fur caked in blood. I could smell it clearly now, the worst was someone else’s but some of it was hers. She was injured, but she was alive. My emotions of pride and protector were waging an internal war within me.
She licked my cheek and then shuddered and collapsed into my arms as she shifted back into her human form.
